Plan at least 14-21 days ahead. Although it could happen, don’t rely on a cheap fares falling into your lap at the last minute.

Be as flexible as possible. Always check to see if flying on a different day will result in a cheaper fares. You may be surprised to see how much money you can save.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are low-demand days for flying, and airfares tend to be cheaper, as are late evening flights. Sundays and Fridays are high-demand days.

Stay over on a Saturday night. You'll probably get cheap airfares. This is the airlines’ way of sorting out business travelers and tourists. Business travelers are more likely to pay premium airfares in order to be home on the weekends.

Cheap airfares for overseas travel are generally offered in November and December, with the exception of the holidays.

Often time, cities are serviced by more than one airport.  If there are multiple airports in the cities of your departure and destination, compare airfares at all of them. Often cheap airfares can be found by flying to a different airport within 30-50 miles of the primary destination. 

Save airline discount coupons. These normally show up in credit card bills or junk mail. You never know when the opportunity to travel will present itself!

Don’t call the airline and book directly. An airline’s job is to persuade you to pay as much as possible for your ticket. Do visit airline web sites where you can often sign up for newsletters. Sometimes airlines make last minute discounts available by e-mail or on their web site. If seats aren’t selling, they may “dump” them at the last-minute.  This is known as "Yield Management".  The unsold seats are "Distressed Inventory"

Travel agents can be a wealth of information, but they will not always find you cheap airfares. They will be able to tell you which airlines fly to your destination and will be able to suggest flights to fit your schedule. Ask them if they are aware of any promotions and specials. Keep notes on flight prices so you can compare your options.

Check the Sunday paper of a major metropolitan newspaper for super saver and promotional fares. Some of these are really cheap airfares and possibly inconvenient, so make sure you know what restrictions apply.